The Beer Nut: San Diego's Coronado is here

Wednesday

Feb 26, 2014 at 12:00 PM

Coronado Brewing Company Rick Chapman visited Massachusetts last week to celebrate the expansion of his brewery into the Bay State.For the first time, the San Diego breweryís beers are available here, as well as in Connecticut, New York and a host of other East Coast states."Thereís been a demand there," said Chapman. "Weíve been looking at the state for a few years. Weíve been filling in our eastern state blueprint."Chapman was the owner of a successful coffee shop in Coronado, Calif., in the 1990s, and his brother, Ron Chapman, was in sports marketing. Rich Chapman suggested they start a brewpub, and in 1995, the brothers founded the Coronado Brewing Company.In 1998, they began distribution and in 2004 they started bottling. Now, Coronado has a production brewery in San Diego, while the brewpub remains in Coronado.Coronado has sent its core lines of beers to Massachusetts. They are Islander IPA, Orange Avenue Wit, Mermaidís Red and Blue Bridge Coffee Stout. Coronado Golden Ale will probably be sent in the summer, Chapman added.Islander IPA is a 7 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) IPA, and is made with Cascade, Chinook and Columbus hops."Itís just a really nice, floral beer with flavors of grapefruit, apricot and mango," said Chapman. "Itís just a yummy, delicious, West Coast IPA."Mermaidís Red is not traditional red ale. Traditionally, red ales are sweet and on the malty side with just a hint of hops. Mermaidís Red is not like that, Chapman said."Itís a West Coast-style red," he said. "It has a bigger hop profile, but it still has that really nice, caramel malt background."Orange Avenue Wit is a Belgian-style witbier brewed with orange zest, coriander and orange blossom honey, while Blue Bridge Coffee Stout is a 5.4 percent dry stout brewed with coffee.Also available is Idiot IPA, which is an 8.5 percent ABV double IPA. Idiot IPA is part of the Crown Series of seasonals, Chapman said."Itís a lot bigger beer (than Island IPA), with more hops, and a much bigger malt profile," he said.Also available as part of the Crown Series is Hoppy Daze, a Belgian IPA. It is draft only in Massachusetts, Chapman said.Another member of the Crown Series, Frogís Breath, will also be available around the middle of April. It was originally brewed for the Great American Beer Festís Pro-Am category. They brewed the IPA with a local Navy Seal, Chapman said.The other beer currently available in Massachusetts is Jurata, a Baltic porter, brewed in collaboration with the Cigar City Brewing Company in Florida."It really turned out nice," Chapman said.Chapman said the one constant for all of Corandoís beers is the effort they put in to make them balanced."All of our beers are very balanced," he said. "Our brewers strive for balance. There may be a lot of hops in the beer, but the brewers will play with the malt bills to keep it balanced."Chapman said the reception in Massachusetts has been great."Theyíve (the beers) been incredibly well-received," he said. "We know our beers are good, but people really seem to love them."Email Norman Miller at nmiller@wickedlocal.com or call 508-626-3823. Check out the Beer Nut blog at blogs.wickedlocal.com/beernut. Follow him on Twitter at @realbeernut. Also check out "Norman Miller, The Beer Nut" on Facebook.